Friday’s Newmarket card should finally see the much-hyped £2.6million colt Hydrogen make his racecourse debut. Qatar Racing purchased the record breaking son of Galileo and placed him in the care of two-time Epsom Derby winning trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam.
A couple of relatively minor setbacks have prevented him from seeing a racetrack and it will not have been the plan for him to be making his debut just a week before the Derby. He still holds an entry for Epsom but he would have to win by half the track to take up that engagement with Chapple-Hyam likely to rely on Arod.
For those of us that are old enough to remember Snaafi Dancer, there must be some trepidation for connections ahead of tomorrow’s maiden race. Snaafi Dancer cost $10.2million and never ran, eventually proving to be a flop at stud. There will be no prizes for the headline writers if Hydrogen proves to be a similarly expensive flop!
In terms of a betting race, I am more interested in Wonderstruck who was third in a good maiden at Ascot behind Goodwood Oaks Trial winner Marsh Daisy. The runner-up has been beaten in a photo and the fourth has won since so the form looks rock solid.
Kieren Fallon seems to be flavour of the month with Godolphin. It is probably as much of a mystery to him as it is to everyone else but he will make the most of it. He has cracking rides lined up for Epsom next week and can chalk up another success aboard Famous Kid in the 4.15. Thirsk might not seem the obvious place to go for a Godolphin horse but a certain Farhh won the Thirsk Hunt Cup by six lengths in 2012 and he turned out to be quite good!
I am not suggesting that Famous Name is likely to prove to be that good but he can take the handicap off a mark of 91. Cloudscape could be the danger if he returns to his early season form but he ran too badly to be true last time out.
Earlier in the day I like the chances of Much Promise in the six-furlong handicap. The daughter of Invincible Spirit ran into some useful sorts as a juvenile, finishing behind Along Again, Valonia and Magnus Maximus. She made no mistake at Kempton in November over this trip and looks on a decent mark
Much Promise 2.30 Newmarket at 6-1 Ladbrokes
Wonderstruck 3.05 Newmarket
Famous Kid 4.15 Newmarket at 9-2 Coral, William Hill
